


Subconsciously

by creepy_shetan



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Experimental Style, Extended Scene, Gen, Introspection, M/M, POV Outsider, blatant punctuation abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 16:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1750805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creepy_shetan/pseuds/creepy_shetan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the hotel room, Robert watches his projections as they prepare to go under again.</p><p>(Originally posted 2013/4/30 as a fill for a prompt.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Subconsciously

**Author's Note:**

  * For [with_rainfall](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=with_rainfall).



Robert looks away from where Mr. Charles is securing the needle in his wrist, eyes drifting to the floor where another of his projections is doing the same for a third.

The one lying down is smiling good-naturedly up into the face of the dark-haired man, who keeps his gaze locked on their joined hands as he deftly completes the task; when their eyes meet for a moment, Robert has a sudden sensory overload, like he’s sharing the surreal experience of déjà vu with a stranger inside his own mind.

It's only a glimpse, and the amount of information is too overwhelming to fully process, but the details are so vivid -- somewhere along the way Robert creates his own explanation of everything from the scattered pieces, and it's terribly absurd to compare the two men in front of him who aren't even real to dogs and cats, but something about it just _clicks_ , and Robert feels connected to the slender one (probably because he has always considered himself a cat person), and Robert understands that the large amiable dog on his back with his throat bared has complete trust in the usually serious but now subtly tender cat (possibly because he has always wanted the trust and the loyalty and [if he’s completely honest about his feline ego] the submission of a dog person), and Robert catches a sense of imminent doom between them that they believe will be okay in the end as they let go of their outward mask of animosity to reveal a deep kinship that is both challenging and complementary (maybe because the proud cat in him has always been attracted to stray dogs and he can't help hoping for proof that cats and dogs aren’t so different after all and can have a lasting relationship), and Robert also picks up on their current grave anxious determination but he can’t figure out why--

The moment ends, a jarring muteness replacing it as Robert lets go of the breath he didn't have time to hold.

In a blink, the two projections revert back to ordinary men in suits, overwriting any lingering thoughts of dogs and cats as Robert lies down, too disorientated to care that his head isn't pillowed and his feet are still grounded (although part of him is aware of Mr. Charles sitting on the floor against the bed despite there being plenty of room next to him); the foreign memories and emotions (undoubtedly made somewhere in his subconscious) fade away beneath his eyelids, and yet Robert can’t suppress the inexplicable wish that the dog’s parting words to the cat, spoken in a warm intimate murmur, are meant for him to hear, too, before going under again.

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt: Any, any/any, dogs and cats  
> The theme: Five sentence fics  
> Originally posted [here](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/425410.html?thread=68235458#t68235458).  
> I only own the writing.
> 
> For the curious... Ironically enough, I didn't intend to slip in the hints of Robert/Eames (and arguably Robert/Dom), but that's the power of headcanon for you, haha.


End file.
